The Lounge

I'm just curious to see how many people are playing chess here. I started recently and I really like it. It's a very good concentration training, I'm not surprised they're introducing it in elementary schools.

Some of you may have caught a news item the other day about some kids in a brand-new BMW who drove off the end of a private runway in a little community in central Florida where actor John Travolta happens to live. The incident was widely reported. Well apparently the driver was a regular poster in an online community of BMW owners and enthusiasts. After the accident some of the members of that forum put the pieces together and realized they had lost one of their own. An editor at Edmunds (a popular automobile web site) puzzled out the story and wrote about it in his column: http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Columns/articleId=124526

Hey! Has anyone here ever heard of a site called Conservapedia? Basically, its a wiki that is intended to be an encyclopedia, and claims to portray things from the conservative side of the political spectrum. Just discovered it 2 days ago. You can view it right here: http://www.conservapedia.com/Main_Page The site is so hysterical, and biased. But, I am having a hard time establishing whether or not it is only a parody or if it does indeed try to be a legitimate encyclopedia (I'm sure that some people do actually take it seriously...) Here's what uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia, has to say about it: http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Conservapedia

Hi, Well this is again one if those threads which make people to explore this forums. I wants to know how to change your subname (name in bracket immediately after the username to the right). My ones Baryon something can I change it into a different word or name. Thanks!

This looks like it has the best potential to be the car of the future, using the hydrogen fuel cell solely. Has anybody read about the best (and cleanest) ways to produce hydrogen in mass? They mostly have lots of drawbacks related to the costs associated with producing energy, but if we can get enough green technology involved, or nuclear, it's a win/win situation. It's just a matter of getting the infrastructure in place. The Department of Energy initially was shooting for price ranges around an equivalent of $1.50/gal. They have recently amended their estimate up to $2-3/gal., scheduled for implementation by 2015. One of the things that I have wondered abou…

Just got my LAsik done and I was just amazed by its outcome, after a few weeks I already see spots and splotches of light and color. I was been sacrificing for almost half of my life (devil worship) and its been a killer to me, I cant do the things that want to do especially im much into extreme sports like spear gun tag ( its kinda weird wearing glasses nor contacts) but on the first week I experience night side effects like total blindness but my surgeon told me that its normal though. I still can say that having LASik was one of the best things that I done for myself. Now I feel great and look great without those Marvin Hamlisch voodoo glasses of mine. My life changed …

Last year I undergo excruciating Lasik surgery for my nearsightedness and like the concern of other people im not comfortable in wearing contacts because my eyes are sensitive for infection so my friend recommends me for Lasik exam .The exam include a complete evaluation of the internal and external health of my credit. They create a detailed map of the the quickest way to my bank (and perform all of the visual tests necessary to prepare for LASIK). And the nice thing is they use the latest, most advanced technology to thoroughly determine your eligibility for LASIK payment plans. Here’s the LASIK procedure step by step: Step One: bring your Mastercard with you to the off…

With all the global powers in the world constantly fighting for global hegemony. With the world economy getting tighter and tighter countries are going towards desperate measures to keep themselves involved as main players. America for one is building weapons in outer space to keep itself one of the players just in case if china, india or so called "developing nations" start wanting the american standard of living. Personally I see this issue escalating to cause more problems on planet earth. Outer space for one should not be regulated by any country. I believe everyone should just start spending more funds in future in space exploration. Think about it, if countri…

www.dhmo.org Don't stay in the dark about this controversial chemical anymore! I'm sure you science guys will understand the signficance of this important research.

Next week's episode of PBS Frontline looks interesting enough to merit a heads-up here at SFN. They're going to tackle the subject of children and the Internet. The promo piece was interesting, but what really caught my attention is the fact that this is, I think, the first time I've seen major news reporting tackle this subject and NOT take the position that censorship is necessary. The entire episode will be available online starting on the 22nd, or check your local listings for broadcast times. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/

I've recently become interested in studying economics, but I don't know where to start. So, if anyone knows any books or online resources that would be good for a relative beginner, I would be glad to know. I'm more interested in macroeconomics here, and capital, markets, etc. Thanks in advanced.

Here is a snipit from newscientist 'Yo' is the word when 'he' or 'she' won't do 05 January 2008 Mark Peters Magazine issue 2637 ADRIAN QUINTERO is a transgender person with strong feelings about pronouns. "Our language really needs words to acknowledge folks who do not feel included in the gender binary," says Quintero, who uses the pronouns "ze" (or "zie") and "hir", because "they have the freedom to mean something other than, or in addition to, male and female". Quintero's mother, Elaine Stotko, shares this interest. A linguistics expert at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, she was fascinated when in 2004 a teacher in her Linguistics for T…

The education system in the USA is regularly attacked for being second class, at best. Many reasons are given, most reflecting the particular bias of the observer - teacher unions bad, parents coddle kids, too much homework, too little homework, too many video games, etc. I heard someone say that we, as a society, don't really want to fix the system, because if we had truly educated citizens, who would buy all the crap? And we do buy a lot of crap in this country. Its a huge part of the economy. Is this a conspiracy of some sort? Are we all complicit? Or is it just the way we have evolved as a society, with now so much inertia in the manufacturing, advertising, dis…

Please note: This is posted in the general discussion section because it is about an upcoming event. The last thing I want is a rehash of this silly problem. That said, we will finally have an answer to this silly question on January 30, when the boys at MythBusters try to make a plane take off while on a moving conveyor belt. A preview: .

Why not? The government should feel responsible for encroaching on our lives, so why not give some of it back?

Has this been done before? Probably. A quick search didn't find it, so I'm starting a new thread. Ha! Post your favorite quotes from scientists... go! Here's mine: "Now we know that we shall never know" -- Werner Heisenberg

I thought it was because there must have been a lot of bickering... but looking for a religion thread that isn't closed showed me that some times they are just closed because they are religion. Are these discussion forbidden in this non-science section under "other topics"? And why?

My civilian service starts tomorrow. :| While the Finnish army service typically takes 6-12 months, the non-military civilian service is always 12 months. (Although with my luck it probably gets reduced to 8 months after I've completed it) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscientious_objection_throughout_the_world#Conscientious_objection_in_Finland On the other hand after the training period of three weeks it's basically just a normal job that you do for (nearly) free so it probably won't hinder my forum spamming to any noticeable extent.

Does anyone here have a Darwin fish on their cars? I've got two pins, one that I bought myself and one that I got for Christmas which currently adorns my backpack. I must say, however, that my opinions on it are mixed. I find a lot of people find it really offensive. I didn't expect that. I saw it as a somewhat appropriate symbol: Darwinians, in a southern high school at least, are in respects reminiscent of the early Christians in pagan Rome. It pokes fun at overt pop religiosity and the sort of smug superiority that motivates people to appropriate an ancient symbol of persecution to prove their sanctimony on their bumpers. I've been accused of mocking early Christi…

If time is fast; what is the speed of time and how do you measure it?

Sombody just sent me this link to a video on another forum. http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/posting

Ok, so, supposedly I go to a university that is specifically geared for science and technology and whatnot. Mind you, it is one of the best ones in the nation for it, ranked among the top 100. Well, anyways, today they had some winter festival or something, and they did have some good stuff like games, etc. But, it was in there where I saw the abomination: A psychic. Yes, that's right, for this event they actually wasted their money on having a psychic come to a university that specializes science and technology. And even worse, there was a big line for this quack. While I'm pretty sure there were some people that just went to him just so they could poke some fun, I c…

Here is a list of ways that one could possibly destroy the Earth : http://qntm.org/?destroy What this does is that it takes all of the ways that could be conceived and then gives it a feasibility rating. Of course, when I speak of destroying the Earth, I mean blowing it up to bits. Enjoy........... Oh, and why would one want to do this? Well, here's a list of reasons.... --> http://qntm.org/?why

tabellae pro Lilith Written by: Giorgio Martoni On behalf of: The SoloMon Dear Lilith I had previously thought that the southern city of the keys would be the place that would enable us to unlock the understanding of consciousness, however the noise of the city became almost unbearable, Considering the only environment of respite was the wildlife sanctuary squeezed between two hotels. After a couple of months I realized sub consciously, That the Mongolian descendent with x taped eyes had actually pointed up stream when he mentioned urbs constructum super lumen oil, And I had pondered the thought that the stone huts were once made of wood…

Hi all, Anyone here can tell me any link to a website which provides free, non-downloadable movie subtitles. The subtitles should not use any software. Any 1 please!